Episode one O 9 of Are you quizzing me Right off the bat? Here's the audience question, the answer to which is revealed right at the end of the episode. Make sure you stick around for it. The question is, when and where was the last telegram ever sent? When and where was the last ever telegram sent by a regular Postal Service? And on that note, let's have the music. Welcome to Are you quizzing me? I am Vineet Nair with my Co host Aditya Kashyap. This is a quizzing trivia
podcast show. Join us as we dive deep into history, science, pop culture and so much more. Let's get quizzing. Welcome back to Are You Quizzing Me? Your favorite trivia podcast show. Today is yet another special episode because we have a guest quiz. Master stepping in Vineet is unavailable. So Hari Krishna HK, one of our most regular guests, one of the most prolific guests on this podcast is back to help us out
with some wonderful trivia. I must clarify at this point that we both recorded an episode which we are not able to use. So we have some questions from HK that have already been used in an unaired episode, which will make a comeback in the future as well. But HK, thanks for doing it the second time. Welcome back to Are you using me for what, the 10th time I think? Yeah.
Always happy to be back and hopefully this time in a better audio form because that's the biggest complaint that I've had is that don't use your earphone mic. If anybody from the Apple team is listening, your Airpods mic do not work for a podcast recording. So please look into that if you can. I've heard that they're not that great for regular meetings. Also, I've heard complaints many times.
So well then Apple really needs to start using their own mics in their own meetings and know how bad they are. But we will not waste any more time. HK. The audience question, by the way, is something I think you'll enjoy. So I was thinking of an audience question that you perhaps even if you don't know the trivia, which you might, but even if you don't know it, it'll something you might enjoy.
So at the end of the episode, let us know what you think the answer is. Since it's a guest episode, how about you start us off with some trivia? OK, so here's my first question. Deriving from an old Turkic word meaning elder brother. What title was reserved in the Ottoman era for senior military officers such as the commander of the Janissary? I'm going to stop there. If you know the answer, then well and good. Otherwise I have a more helpful clue for the same word.
Older brother Ottoman Empire, some sort of OK? A lot of these army positions sound like they could have French origin so I'm not sure if that would be the right answer. But just because Turkey is somehow close enough to Spain and Armano is a brother. So I'm thinking, is it by any chance Colonel? Just similar vowels I was going for. No, no, no. You're way off. Oh, take your colonial hat and get it. Throw it out of the window because we are not talking about colonial terms yet.
So it appears today. So now you are going to see why appears today as part of the title of the Imam of Nazari, Ismail ISM, one of whom started a committed award for architecture. What is happening? So that's how you know this word in recent times. What do these connect? Yeah, it's the title of the Imam of Nazari Ismail ISM, which is one of the 12 or Shia Islamic sect. OK, so an Imam from one of the Shia sects of Islam. His title is the same as the
title for the older brother. Generally there are. I don't know that there are multiple imams, but yeah, I'm not sure. OK. OK. Sorry, can you clarify? Is this a title that has only been given to this one person or is it given to all of the leaders? No, this is the title. So for example, like Nizam is the title Ayatollah? Yeah, Ayatollah or Nizam is the title for the ruler of Hyderabad, even if their original whatever names are something something. So it's similarly this God I got.
It's the title, though you might confuse it to be a name. OK. Unless you know the origins. So this is a title and not a name. And I think the latter half is very helpful, which is architecture award. Yeah, coveted award for architecture. And if you've ever been to Delhi, you definitely have seen this name. In the architecture context. Yes, in the monument context. Even so they do awards for architecture. They also have a lot of grants for restoring monument.
OK. I think they're famously restored a wonderful monument in Delhi, multiple one very famous. And then I think they're now restoring some monuments in Hyderabad, the same team. OK, no, again, not something I can deduce get so Any other hints? Can you guess what monument in Delhi that they would have restored at least? I'm imagining there are a lot of monuments in Delhi that have been restored. This is not some tiny tiny teeny tiny.
And you know, one can tell that it's been restored because probably before our times, it did look as good as it looks nowadays, like top three monuments of Delhi. Top three monuments of Delhi. OK, let's do this. There is Qutub Minar. No, it's not the Qutbmin. I mean, it's been restored, but not by this. I don't think it's by this team. But red, red, red. I think ASI that's under ASI control. I mean this also is under ASI control. But yeah, then I would say Humaya's tomb.
Humaya's Tomb. Humaya's tomb has been restored. OK. Yeah, and if you visited the Humaya's tomb recently, this trust name would be there everywhere. Like all the boards will literally have them because they help restore. So not just Humayun's tomb, they helped restore like the nearby Sundar Nursery. And then there's also this Kani Kanam Abdul Rahman Kani Kanam's tomb, which is also, they ended up painting the sub's board, which is the roundabout that is
just outside Nizamuddin's tomb. I think they helped restore that also. And now they're restoring Qutub Shahi Tomb in Hyderabad. I said it's a title that sounds like a name because it's very difficult to give more clues because it's a very short title. OK, let me see. So this is a trust, It has given architecture awards, does some restorations. Older brother. Is this by the way, the older brother thing, something that is still used? Yeah, in Turkish. Is that what older brother is called?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It comes from the word meaning elder brother. No, I'm actually completely lost. Wow, absolutely blank on this. It's helping. It's something that you can hint towards. Also, I think we have to play like word association at this point. OK, I'll give you the title is literally 3 letters. The key part, the word we're looking for is literally 3
letters. That's why it's very hard to give anything that is. I can't believe I'm almost at the point of asking you for the first letter, but if it's three letters, I don't know. Yeah. It's too embarrassing to ask for the first letter. Give me the 1st letter, the last letter. I'll tell you about the middle letter. So actually the first or the last letter is the same also. Oh. OK, OK, OK, then something. I'm assuming Urdu sounding. Yeah. So I'm going to say it's a, it's a vowel.
Stupidest way I've ever gotten to an outside, but I'm assuming it's a vowel and a vowel at the end and some consonant in the middle. Yes, exactly right, Exactly right. OK. IMI imam IMI. No, that sounds very weird. Oh, is it ADA or Aga? I think it's is it Aga? Aga. Aga Khan Aga Khan Trust Aga Khan. So Aga Khan is not a person's name. Aga Khan is a title. You are kidding me. Yes, it's a title for the Imam of Nizari Islamism. Currently we have I think Aga
Khan the 5th. Oh, that is so cool. That is very unexpected. Very cool. Oh, also, they're not 12 or Shias, so they're like, it's a different segment. But yeah, Agha Khan is their title and Agha Khan trusts are called a lot of heritage situation works. And the Agha Khan Award for Architecture is, I think, one of the most award in architecture. Wow, very unexpected, very cool, thank you for that.
TIL. I love it. I always appreciate how the kind of questions you come up with are so you it's always a little bit of Delhi. I can predictably guarantee that there will be an Ottoman Empire question somewhere there or some medieval European history related link somewhere. There will be Delhi somewhere. Perfect. There's Delhi a lot of places this time, so you will see. Oh. OK wow, so this is the Delhi Special. Yes, the Delhi Special in some ways.
Well, my my segue to this is cities and names. Names of cities. Wonderful. This is the etymology, and there are multiple etymologies associated to this name. I'm going to give you all of them. And if at any point, even halfway through you realize what the city name is, stop me and tell me what your answer is. The first one is the people who were originally of that space of that area of that land had a word in their local language Istroma. Istroma was used for multiple reasons.
Potentially the name Istroma, which directly translates to their current name, was used for multiple reasons. One of them could be that it was supposed to mark a boundary. It was a marker for a boundary between the hunting grounds of
two distinct groups. So boundary marker for the hunting grounds of two distinct groups is stroma was supposed to describe that and is stroma is like I said, is the local language word which is translated to what we currently know it as. That is the first potential etymology. The other reason that is stroma was given the name is stroma could be that it was also a place where people would keep the game that they have haunted out to die. OK, third reason for naming it
is stroma. Could be that the tree found in that area had a certain physical attribute attached to it, certain attribute that described it. So I've given you 3 potential reasons that it was called stroma, which translates to the current word current name. The first one was that it was supposed to be a boundary marker between hunting grounds of two groups. Second one, it was named is stroma because it was also where they dried their game, the fish or the game that they haunted.
Third reason is also that it could be potentially because the physical attribute of trees found in that area. OK, nothing comes to mind immediately from these. So I have made each of these clues very big. I've made each of these etymologies slightly weak. So let me go back to what I had said. OK, The first one, it was supposed to be a painted boundary. The painting aspect of the boundary is important. That was a painted boundary between 2 hunting grounds. OK.
The second thing that might lead you to it is the fact that they potentially were using this for using stroma to dry the game that they had haunted or fish that haunted. So now imagine if I was drying my hunt or my meat that I have freshly haunted. What would potentially be around that area? OK, the third thing would also lead you to the answer which was the I said a physical attribute of the tree. The tree part of it is also relevant to it. OK, so they're hunting it and
drying it in trees. I did. So there's probably some animal that they're defending against is my guess. No, so not they're not drying it in trees. By the way, I said stroma, the name stroma was used to dry the meat. Potentially that is one of the reasons it was maybe called stroma. OK. Is it like a mountain? Then much much smaller, much smaller and more man made. OK, like some sort of mound or? Not even a mound. Smaller or very specific, very pointed. OK.
If that word play helps you. Some sort of cross or stick? Stick. OK, great. So you got the stick part of it, which is why I mentioned the physical attribute of the trees and I was talking about the stick, the wood that they would use to potential this. So now it is a stick that they were drying it on. Now going back to the first one, I said it's a painted marker of a boundary, OK? So if it was painted and the second clue also tells you about what potentially colour it would
be if it was drying. Red Stick. Red stick. Perfect. OK, now you got it. Stroma means red stick. Red Stick. OK, which? Place gets its name from his stroma. It's literal translation not to English, but to another language, and it means Red Stick. Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge. Well done. Baton Rouge is the answer.
Great job. Yes. So Baton Rouge, for anybody who doesn't know, is the state capital of the state of Louisiana in the United States of America. Bouton Rouge has had a pretty interesting history, interesting events that have happened over the course of American history over there. But the reason I always saw interesting was Bouton Rouge clearly means the red stick, Bouton being a stick, Rouge being red. And this is Louisiana was under French influence, King Louis, who it's named after.
So Bouton Rouge is the French translation for Istroma. So potentially there are three etymologies for why this was the case. First one being that it was supposed to mark the boundary, a red stick marking the boundary for 2 hunting grounds. Second was maybe there was a stick that they used to dry their game on South. The blood would perhaps seep onto the stick and it would be
stained red over years. And the third reason was there were red cypresses which were in that area and so they would use the stick from that tree for whatever reason and hence it got the name is Stroma, which means red stick or has escaped very cleverly deduced Baton Rouge. Yes, all done. Good job. No, I was very wonderful, I think, especially with Native American words and translations in the cities. This was on the podcast and I think Manhattan also has some etymology like that.
Yeah, there's something with New York and like again, a bunch of the stuff that's named after Native American words or but Speaking of boundaries and roads, this kind of is like a tangential perfect. So I think I kind of unintentionally started it last time. Also speaking about roads in Delhi. So this is another Rd. in Delhi. It's named after this person. He was the first leader of this country, call it country, which was the first of Britain's African colonies to gain
majority rule independent. Among his many titles were Osagaifo, which means Redeemer in the Akan language. So as mentioned, he has a road named after him in Delhi. Who is this leader whose first name has been kind of brought back into the spotlight because of recent events now? Recent as in the date we're recording this podcast and now when it's going to go out. I'm not sure how recent it would be at that time, but I would say still it would still be relevant even at that time. OK.
So let's just put a timeline on it. So it is in 2025, yeah. March, April, May, June, July, somewhere around there. So the so the the recent events, the first name is back in this thing literally because of something that's happened in the last week of June. Last week of June. Oh, that is very recent. OK. Yeah, like 3 days ago. Two 2-3 days ago. Yeah. We are recording this on 27th of June, so very, very recent.
But yeah, so the I can give you the year the country gained independence in 1957. So he was the first leader of this country. So if you can guess the country, then maybe the leader will become obvious. And you said this leader has a street in Delhi named after him? A road in Delhi named after him? Yeah, OK. That's also in a way actually a hint because it's not like, you know, Delhi streets are named after like every leader.
Often times their leaders who are aligned in some way with Neruvian politics is the most common reason. Or at least non aligned movement. And he was also, I think, one of the members of that. OK. Because he said it was one of the first few countries to gain independence from British colonial rule. Because initially I was thinking Liberia, but Liberia never gained independence from Britain. Yeah. It was set up as a Free State for formerly enslaved people. I. Said 1957.
So it's in the the recent realm. The other British colony that I think gained independence around that time, one of the first, was I believe Ghana. Ghana is the country. OK, now we need the name of the first leader of Was it the president? Prime Minister? What is? It I think he was the president. I mean, I think he was the Prime Minister, first Prime Minister and then he became president. OK. Basically, we call him the father of Ghana in some sense, the modern Ghana in some sense, right?
This I have no clue whatsoever because Ghana history and politics is clearly something I don't know too much about. But you said it has something to do with Nehruvian politics. And you said the first name is gain relevance because of recent events, as recent as like a few days ago, yeah. And last week of June. What has been happening that has captured imagination surprisingly in India as well? Oh. Surprisingly India. I was going to say last week of June usually in Delhi means
monsoon but that's very regular. No, no, no, no. So even a little bit of a meme that this event has so much attention in India, right? And I'm sure there's like going to be some very good memes that come out of this. Wait, but the name exactly is being used referencing the leader? Or is it just happens to be coincidence that that name is? Yes, yes, yes. So the name was in tribute to the leader.
Like this person was a, because he was the first kind of, he was a stalwart of like he basically was the leader of Ghana's independent movement also at the time, Pan Africanism and African unity. And he, you know, I suppose all those ideas. So there are a lot of people who kind of pay tribute to him in many ways. And so this person involved in recent events, his middle name is basically this person's first name. Oh, this? Is an Indian person.
Yeah, it's an Indian person. Indian origin, yeah. Oh, and then a few days ago means probably the New York City mayoral race. Yes, yes. OK, the names have to that. I only know his first name and his last name but I don't know his middle name. What his name? Mum Dani. Mum, Dani. Mum, Daddy, Yes, you almost sound like right now. Very, very problematic. I just went to Mehmood. Muhammad Mehmood. I was going to go, OK, apologies, I am not that basic Zoran. Mamdani is his name, but Oh my
God, what's his middle name? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, no, yeah, this is this is going to be completely beyond me. That's as far as I think I'm going to go on this road. Middle name is Zoran Kwame Mamdani, called Kwame because the leader's name is Kwame Nkrumah. Wow. He was the first leader of Ghana independence and there's a road after him in Delhi also and one of the kind of leading I think there's the Kwame is a very common.
I think there's probably other black activists also who have the name Kwame, Yeah, in their names and whatnot. Not mistaken because, yeah, he's one of the leaders who celebrated because he kind of espoused these African Union, Pan African, like the kind of the newly like this was also, I think the time, right? Like this time that like show that Africa could roll itself. People did not expect. There was a lot of skepticism and he was one of the no, no, we
are capable. And so there's I think a lot of support, though I think as with any great leader, his legacy is in the cleanest. But yeah. Interesting. And I'm, I'm embarrassed to even admit this, but I did not know he's Mira Nair's son till like a day ago. Yeah. This is very People seem to be surprised by that. Yeah, I had no idea. Yeah, yeah, this is more lower. Apparently he was the one who convinced Mira Nair to not direct Harry Potter and instead direct the namesake.
Oh, apparently she was offered, I don't know which one. I think it was Order of the Phoenix, but I think he was like, don't direct that, direct your own movie instead. Insane. And she lost out on billions of dollars. Yeah, that's why. I'm looking. Did you know that he had a rap career? Briefly, yes. Do you know what his name was? Cardamom or something, Right? Young cardamom. Young cardamom. Yes, yes, yes. Something. I was thinking young cardamom and I was like, what?
That's a very interesting, strange choice of a name. Listen, Hindi young cardamom would translate to closely enough to choti Elaichi, which is actually a spice like elaichi. And there's a buddy elaichi and a choti elaichi. So I just wonder if he just likes Elaichi Choti Elaichi and he's like, I'm going to go as young cardamom. Maybe he's a fan of the Spice Girls, you know, So maybe that's why. Yeah, yeah. Good for him.
Good for. Him also apparently in one of his videos, Lupita and yo-yo is also there. Oh, I think he grew up in East Africa, somewhere in East Africa if I'm not mistaken. So I don't know if it's because of that or whatnot, but yeah. Very cool, Logan. Speaking of, actually, Madhur Jaffrey is a name that featured recently on one of the Are You Using Me episodes. And the author and actress Madhu Jaffrey was also in one of his music videos playing his grandmother.
Ah, little bit of a throwback there. OK, so Kwame is the name of the first leader, the father of the nation of Ghana. And Kwame is the middle name for Zoran Mamdani. Very cool. OK, so there's a Kwame Marg or Kwame Street or Kwame Rd. Kwame Grooma Marg in Chanakyapuri, Delhi OK you want to visit? Predict predictable. There'll be a Delhi road question somewhere also. Yes, I love it. And this would be a great opportunity because we already recorded this podcast episode
earlier. Of course, there were different questions. So I'm just going to bring one of the references from there where I asked HK if he knew why there is a street in Hong Kong by the name of Rednexala. Rednexala. Yeah. Rednexala Terrace. Rednexala Ave. Rednexala Terrace and HK you want to tell us you cracked it very quickly when you recorded that episode. Also you want to do it this time around. Yeah, it's. Alexander in Rivers, Yeah, it is
Alexander written backwards. And so I think it has to do with how the script is. Sometimes the old Chinese script was written right to left and English obviously written left to right. So in somewhere in that translation, transliteration of things, Alexander got reversed. And that's how one of the roads in Hong Kong gets its name. But yes, I love it. HK is nothing if not predictable in his trivia, which due credit is very unpredictable. Sometimes the trivia is unpredictable.
Perfect, since we are talking about famous people after whom things are named as weaker segues. That is, I'm going to tell you about famous sibling pair of siblings and you have to tell me what have they contribute or what their name has led to or named after, right. So Chang and Eng Bunker? OK.
Born in 1811, were born in Asia and eventually moved to the United States in 1829. They had some financial success all the way till 1839, doing a certain activity, after which they quit that activity and they settled in North Carolina. They became American citizens. They ended up buying slaves. So these are people who are Asian, but they ended up buying slaves in the United States of America and and ended up fathering like 21 children. A lot of these people are still
there. They in fact meet together I think once in a while as a huge family reunion after the Civil War, because obviously the abolition of slavery happened. They lost part of their wealth and of course the slaves, they went back to doing their activity at some point and soon thereafter they passed away. So I haven't told you what activity they were doing and I haven't told you specifically where in Asia they were from. OK.
So the two things that I was a little vague about, can you tell me what did Chang and Eng Bunker? What name was derived from them? Chang Eng Right, CHANGEAG and bang. So let me clarify Chang and Eng. Their names did not lead to the name, but their life and what activity they did and yada yada yada yeah led to the name. One thing immediately comes to mind. General source chicken for some reason. Because restaurant business and whatnot. No, no. Good guess. Good guess. No.
But not general source chicken. OK, but is it food related or no? Solid guess, but no. I would have probably also gone with food if I heard this question, but no, it's not food related at all. OK, something they did and it's not even now like I would know it for example. It's not in use as much anymore but OK. Yes you would 100% know it. Most people our age will know it. May be younger people won't know it in a decade or so. OK. All of us have heard it.
Interesting. People who grew up in the 90s maybe maybe even in early 2000s have heard it. It was in common use till the recent. Is it a phrase? It's 2 words, I'll give you that. OK, OK. The two words, something to do with their lives, something to do with what they were doing. And you've been very vague about what they're doing. And so, I mean, there's only so many things one can do, like in terms of broad categories or they ran a business or they were like, you know.
You would consider them, I guess, in some way entrepreneurial. Remember I also have not mentioned where they were from specifically. I just said they were from Asia and they moved to the USI didn't mention specifically where in Asia because if I did, that would lead you to the answer very quickly. Is it Singapore? Oh no, Why? Why would you assume Singapore though? No, I was just guessing, but yeah, with China would be the obvious guess, but like, you know, but then why would that
leave immediately? They were of Chinese descent. They were of Chinese descent, Chinese origin, but not from China. Interesting. OK. Much closer to Singapore than to China. Or, well, I guess in between Singapore and China. In between so then Hong Kong. I don't think Hong Kong is in between Singapore and China. Yeah, that's true. That's true. It's still time. So. So if it is not that, then it's likely Malaysia or basically the Straits. It's likely one of the.
You are much closer with that, yes. It's not Malaysia. No, it's not Malaysia, but it's in the peninsula. Interesting. OK. So, OK, so it's Thailand or something? OK, perfect. They're from Thailand. OK. They're from Thailand. OK, Yeah, Sriracha is it? Is that the rooster sauce? Oh again, good case. But I said not food, not food at all. No, no, no, not food later. Sorry. Yeah, but Thailand? These two brothers were from Thailand, OK, but not Thailand because obviously it wouldn't
exist as Thailand back then. Right. Yeah, see, I am Siamese twins. Perfect, it was Siamese twins that I was looking for. Chang and Eng Bunker now obviously called conjoined twins, what you would call conjoined twins, and for the longest time was referred to as Siamese twins because it was from Siam. Siam, Siam. How's it pronounced Siam, Right. Yeah, Yeah. So Siam, which is the old name for Thailand. These two men were from there. They moved from there to the United States in 1809.
When I said that they were doing a certain activity which is slightly entrepreneurial, I guess. Circus, yes. So they were touring. Touring. OK, now interestingly enough, they did not want to be part of somebody else's quote UN quote freak show, right? So they were doing it on their own accord. But yes, it was in the same realm as one of those in quotes freak shows. The Wonders of the the Bearded Lady and.
Yeah. So interestingly enough, these Thai men, these Chinese Thai men owned slaves. And I was surprised to know that. And there is this phrase, I'm forgetting what the exact phrase was. I'm hoping it comes back to me. But the idea that they were given a white adjacent status that obviously you're not white. Right, right, right. Yes, but. Because you're a slave owner, so you are slightly higher in the social rankings because you've done well for the financially, you own slaves, etcetera.
And you're obviously not black. I think just being black automatically put you at the bottom rung at that time. So very interesting that even in the racism there is, there is this stratification always of who is considered worthy of even being close to the topmost echelons. But anyway, that is a social commentary aside.
Chang and Ng Bunker and Bunker is the name that they adopted when they moved to the US Of course, before that they had a Chinese name, which I do not think I'll be able to pronounce. They lived in Thailand, they were born conjoined, and they lived their entire lives as conjoins. And yeah, eventually they moved to the US. They had children, which is, I mean, I don't want to think too much about it, but like, you know, it's crazy to think that
like. So very interestingly, I think a lot of conjoins talk about this idea that people are forever fascinated with their sex lives. Yeah, I think that is something that people are always fascinated with, which again, to somebody who's conjoined, when I would imagine is very intrusive and just like a none of your business what I'm doing, where I'm doing. But I guess to the rest of us who have nowhere close to lived experience, who probably don't know people also who are conjoined.
So I guess, I guess we leave it up to the people and how they do it and the way they live their lives. Hey, you brought up the fact that they had 21 children. I would I I don't think it was relevant to the question. I was giving you information, I was telling you how their family is living still in the US and they occasionally still meet.
As of 2006, By the way, descendants of Chang and Ang's 21 children number around 1500. Much of the family still lives in North Carolina, and the family has hosted annual get together since the 1980s on the last Saturday of June. So. Well, actually we are recording it on the last Friday today. The tomorrow would be the gathering for Chang and ENG's family. Yeah, in the US So yeah, some famous people in it as well.
There was one of them was a Democratic nominee for governor of Florida in 2010, and another one was a 2013 Pulitzer Prize for music recipient. So yeah, some famous people there. Oh, very interesting. Speaking of subjugation. Oh. These three colours, XYZ are the colours of the flag of country A, let's say, and they've been chosen, the three colours from the flag of this country to represent kind of this ideology during the country's history of never being taken over by a
colonial path. What's the country and kind of what colours are we talking? This I have a feeling is the Pan African, Pan Africanism or? Yes, Pan Africanism is the ideology. Right, so then it has to be red, black and green. So you're right in that it's Pan Africanism, but so interestingly, there are two
flags associated. The red, black and green flag is associated with this guy called Marcus Garvey, who also, this is a very fascinating 99% invisible episode, which will be one of my, I guess, pop culture recommendations where we talk about like how that flag came about to be like, you know, how is ideology a very interesting person.
This is not that it is also Pan Africanism but the three colours are not that one of the colours is different but because these three colours come from the flag of a country. He chose the three colours to represent like 3 ideas. Black to represent the colour of the skin, red to represent the blood and toil green to represent the green lushness of
the continent. Of these three colours, similar in the sense like there are some that are in common, but they are the flag of a country, Which country could it? I feel like the reason you said that it has never been subjugated under colonial rule is why I actually thought about it. Yeah, but now that I'm thinking if it's, I'll come back to the country because a vague memory of the countries but I'm not able to grasp on it right now.
But the common colours in most African nation flags red, black and green over. My first guess is, that's why I said it. The other one, I'm thinking of South America, so there is a little bit of yellow and a little bit of blue there. So I'm going to guess, is it blue instead of? Yes. So it's not blue. OK, so yeah, I was going towards South Africa. So is it OK now I'm just guessing red, black and yellow? Is it yellow managers? So yellow is there, red and yellow it's red, yellow, green.
OK, OK, not black. Yeah, it's not black. I would imagine black would be the one thing that would be in common, but just because of the racial. It's so super interesting. Ghana, which we talked about, right? So the flag of Ghana is red, yellow, green because of this other country's flag. And it also has a black car because of Marcus Garvey and the other pan Africanism, this thing.
So because he started this thing called the Black Star Liner which is like this ferry service where blacks could travel OK otherwise they would be with segregation. They would be given only the lowest classes or like very bad lodgings. And he was like they need to live dignity. And so we would start our own ferry and we would run our own ferry where they would be treated with respect. So the Black Star in Ghana as flag is because of Marcus Garvey and that link and the other 3.
Colours are because of this other SO. It's red, yellow, green and they appear in actually I think more African country flags than red, green and black. OK, interesting. Yeah, you're right. Now that I think about it, the yellow is probably featured more, also brighter colour to have. Which is the only African country to have not been subjugated by a colonial path? Now see that's the only reason I figured out that was Pan Africanism, because you said only country. But now I'm not able to.
Congo is not 8. Ghana is not 8. I'm thinking of the bigger countries. South Africa is not 8. Kenya is not 8. You're very close with Kenya. It's a country that borders. Kenya. Oh OK, so Kenya is bordered by Somalia? Somalia was British Somaliland. British Somaliland think in a borders Eritrea as well. Eritrea was Italian colony. How was it OK that I did not know? Djibouti is a French colony. Oh, Ethiopia, Ethiopia. Ethiopia is right there.
Yes, Ethiopia is the country colours, black colours kind of inspired a whole but. Of course, Ethiopia colours are yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So that is why Pan African colours are red, yellow and green, OK? I don't know whether Marcus Garvey took his inspiration from Ethiopian. It could be also because this was around that time. So the I think Ethiopia famously defeated the Italian forces in late 1890s sometime that was when a lot of the independence movements were also taking
steam. And Marcus Garvey designed the Pan African, his Black Unity flag in 1920s. That history is very interesting also like you know, why he why he was for to do it or what not. But yeah, by the way, like the countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea, Bissau, Mali, Senegal, S, Om and Prince and Togo all have red, yellow, green in them and African symbolism.
Rasafari flag also has the same colour and I think it has some connection. To the roots, yeah. They've been used by this. So they adopted it, I think as well, yeah. I had, I don't know if you remember it, in college, I used to roam around with this Bob Marley bag. So that's how it's emblazoned in my head, the colours. Just to clarify, by the way, I was in Singapore. I was not doing any drugs. It just so happened to be a Bob Marley bag. Yes, yes. Lest somebody come after me.
So don't do drugs. We did not condone the usage of narcotics. Do only the legal stuff when you're of legal age and then ruin your health with all of that because that's OK. The government has said it's OK to do that. Yeah, the only drug I approve of is coffee. So. Oh yes, you know what, HK? This is something I'm surprised that you haven't asked me any coffee question. I was thinking and I couldn't find anything well enough.
So I think this is going to be my standard theme of like, you know, everything is like 1 coffee question. Yes, there's to be a Delhi road question. There has to be a coffee question, something to do the Ottomans or the Romans or something on there. This is this is the absolute Twitter brain between like another connect to Ottoman Empire in the Soran Mamdani question. So Zoran is a Shia Muslim because he's the Democratic primary candidate.
He's going to face against Eric Adams, most likely who's going to be the as an independent or Republican and they're going to be the front arrest. Eric Adams was famously involved in corruption from the Turkish government. Oh yes, he was. Yeah. But the hottest thing in 16th to 18th century was the Ottoman Safavid conflict. So someone on Twitter was like, you know, this is the new front of the Ottoman Safavid War in New York, 2025. Zoran Mandani versus Eric Adams.
Oh. My God Eric Adams corruption was hilarious. That man was corrupt where I think he was getting money through like the routing it through Turkish Airlines or something. Which means he was flying within the US by taking flights which went to Istanbul and then came back. He was flying in cities inside continental United States. With the layover in Istanbul because he took Turkish Airlines and they were giving him bribes of like first class tickets or something like that. OK.
I just should just clarify in case we are on grounds we sued allegedly, OK. I don't know if any of that has been proven. Allegedly, yes. But allegedly Adams was flying all the way to OK. This is an example if you are flying from New York City to whatever San Francisco. He was going from New York City to Istanbul and then coming back to San Francisco. That's one way to beat jet lag. Oh Lord, his corruption allegations were absolutely comedy gold.
But coming back to trivia, well, this question segues rather nicely because you're talking about colors and colors and flags. Always bright, always nice, attractive. I want to talk about something else which is very colourful, usually associated with bright colours. This is in the Disney's Animal Kingdom, which is part of Disney World in Florida, in the United States of America. There's a spot which is, like I said, supposed to be usually associated with bright colours.
And if you use that space, if you use the facilities provided at that space, you are given some sort of acknowledgement at the end of it, which has, and I'm looking at various pictures that people have posted of this, this piece of paper, which has things written on it like Disney's Animal Kingdom Dash Notes. I want you to tell me what Dash is, which is that space, which is that place? Dash Notes played with X, yes or no, 8 snacks, yes or no?
Took a nap, Yes or no, And then other notes, sometimes associated, OK, this is the acknowledgement, or let's say some sort of piece of paper that you get if you use that place, views that space, views that service in Disney's Animal Kingdom. OK. Do you want to try to take a guess as to what that place is? These something like something with slot because like you know, to can have or what not lazy. So it's like a lawn chair or
something like that? OK, so now let me try to help you along with it. Like I said, if you use the service available that if you use that place. So not, not a not really an animal exhibit. OK. But the most common or most obvious answer for something like this would be not that it would fit the bill exactly, but a service provided a theme park would be like a food stall, right? Or like a washroom, something like that. So service like that. Yeah.
Or an information counter. So a service point in Disney's Animal Kingdom in Disney World in Florida, where if you use that service, they give you this piece of paper. And I also mentioned this is usually associated with a lot of colours supposed to be colourful. Colourful. So rainbow is multi coloured. What is multi coloured? Yeah. What are the things they said? So it is supposed to be cute.
It's not exactly supposed to be accurate, but here Disney's Animal Kingdom Dash notes Dash being the service of the place that it is. OK is played with other Dash yes or no? Ate snacks yes or no? OK, took a nap. Yes or no? Is it some sort of kids or not like, you know, like is it like a ball pit or something like that? OK, very good, very good, very good. OK. So I'll give you, I'll give you points for Kids Zone in the sense that it is some sort of a day care, but it's not for kids, OK?
Interesting, so it's not for kids there? Is it for baby animals? No, I I don't know if you'd be anyways allowed to take baby animals inside. Animal World? Yeah, that's true. That's really Disney World. Yeah. Other pets. It could be for some other pet. So is it like a dog or a cat? Pets would be a good guess, but no, it's not pets. OK, it's not pet. Now I should clarify, when they say ate snacks or took a nap, it is very much in jest. It is supposed to be cute.
It's supposed to be funny. OK, right, right, right, right. This thing doesn't actually eat snacks or take snaps. Is it like a laptop deposit service or something like that? Is it like a phone deposit service something? OK, very cool, very cool, very cool. So yes, you are on the right track that it is not an it's an inanimate object. Yeah. But let me bring you back to the fact that I said it's colourful
usually. And I would also like you to think about why would there be a specific place to deposit something inanimate. And I'll tell you the reason also actually very vaguely is for safety reasons for the animals inside what is something that people would have very commonly in Disney World, but can't be taken inside Animal Kingdom. Phones is one thing, but. Yeah, I think people take phones because you would want people take pictures and stuff anyway. So I don't think that's.
True but same thing I've seen cameras but I guess that way they are also fine. So is it like hats or something like that? Scarves or something? You don't want animals to take hold of something. Some loose a pendant. Something loose is actually a very good idea, but think about something again. Hats and scarves, maybe not the most attractive to the target audience at Disney World or target audience, obviously.
Kids. Yeah. What do you think kids like to buy in places like this that would be very dangerous potentially to the animals in Animal Kingdom? It's some kind of toy. Yes, very close. So I'll phrase it in a certain way. If it gets away from these people, from the kids, animals might at some point eat it and that is very dangerous for them. Balloons. Balloons, It's a balloon daycare in Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Wow. So they have a space where because a lot of kids obviously buy balloons when they enter Disney World. So if they want to go into Animal Kingdom, you're not allowed to take balloons in. Because obviously if it's very easy to let go of balloon or balloon to escape. And then at some point when it loses air and it falls into the the space for the animal, they might eat it, consume it. And that's obviously not good for them. So they have a balloon deposit.
You can't take it inside. So they have a balloon daycare. And then when you come out of it, they give you this note or this report, which says Disney's Animal Kingdom balloon daycare notes played with the other balloons. Yes, no hate snack yes, no took a nap, Yes, no. And I'm seeing one of the pictures in front of me. There's a there's a space for other notes as well where it says shared very well. We give goldfish for snack time. This cute little thing that they do at Disney World.
All right, HK, that brings us to the last question of the episode and that one is yours. So give me your question. It's the last and it's the very, it's a very indulgent question, like vineet kind of channelling my vineet here a little bit. Let's go. The the lion and the blank tree was the design used by the British East India Company for its single and double Moher coin. I think moher is like the highest value or what not the gold coin basically. As to why these two unlikely
motives were combined, there are several possible explanations. 1 explanation is that John Flaxman, who's I think believed to be the designer, drew inspiration from Punic Voynich and the designs that he had seen during his many years travelling and working in Italy. In various civilizations of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. This tree and its leaves were associated with victory, tease, endurance, immortality, and fertility.
It was given away to victors in the ancient Olympics and was the sacred sign of Apollo. So do you have any idea what that what tree I'm talking about? Olive tree would be because it's an Apollo Olympics. No, that's the obvious sensor, but. Yeah, it seems like, oh, that's how you're channeling your beneath. You're trapping with obvious answers. OK, OK. Yeah, and more so now this is the kicker.
So there's a slight variation of this motive is something that we Indians encounter on a daily basis, though perhaps some would say we are encountering it less frequently these days. So identify the tree and where would we see it now and what has changed the set of variation, right. So I think if you find the tree then you will probably be able to get to the second-half. OK. So they were using it on the Mohr, you said lion or something, right? Lion and the tree or some
whatever tree, dash tree. It seems a little weird, like it's not something that you would want to combine. Like you never think why. Like I literally saw it today. I went like, ha, why I'll buy these two things. Like, you know, what's the funda for? Like why these two things are combined. Turns out at least the tree has a lot of symbolism and I've kind of taken away more symbolism. So the reason it's a sacred sign of Apollo is because Apollo is believed to be born under this
tree. And so similarly, Jesus Christ is also believed to have been born under this tree. And so this tree features in symbolism in Judaism, in Islam also because the calls for prayer were given on top of this from on top of the tree or the first calls for prayers were given on from on top of this tree. This tree is very popular in in the mid military and Middle East. Then I want to take a guess because you said you're not using it as much anymore.
I want to take a guess because also you said Mohs and currency and that's what I'm thinking. People are not using currency as much anymore. This has to do with some sort of stamp or logo or something. Not logo, but whatever the signage that is on currency and Indian currency specifically, which makes me because the first guess obviously would be the Ashok pillar, the the lions, but that's there. I don't recall any trees in that. No. The other is the RBI logo.
Yeah. So what is the RBI logo? No, I think there's a tiger in it and there is a tree. And The thing is, I'm pretty sure there we have talked about the RBI logo in another episode like we need and I have done this in another episode. Yes, but did you talk about the tree is the question. Yeah. Now that I'm not able to remember the tree now, because I'm pretty sure we have discussed this, there's a tiger in it. And so that's the tree. That's the tree that is in the RBI logo.
Yeah, isn't the RBI logo. OK, OK, OK. And it has so much significance. I did not know that. Yes, yes the tree has so much significance. For example Hannibal has coins that have the lion and this tree also on it. From that time onwards, the Hannibal is kind of pre. Christ. The polos tree is this tree. Just because I'm thinking Eve, because you said Christianity and all that Eve. So I'm thinking apple, but I don't think apple tree is that
iconic. No, I said Islam also and I said the call to prayer was given on from on top of this trees, Mediterranean and Middle East is actually a big So what tree? What do you think? Okay, Mediterranean, Middle East, then I would say palm tree. I think it is a palm tree. Yes, the tiger and the palm tree. It is the palm tree, yeah. So why is there a tiger and a palm tree in the RBI logo, right? Like so why is that combination?
That is true. Is there any part of the world where there would be a tiger and a palm tree? Like those seem very different. I mean Sundarbans you could make a very like like same thing for lions. You could say in Gujarat from corner of like Gujarat coast you could see a lion and. Maybe there will be some palm tree? But tigers are jungle animals,
right? Like in Sundarbans, perhaps you could say, I don't know, but but mangroves, again, not technically palm trees, but you see tiger and palm tree. Why is there a palm tree? So it turns out because the palm is very significant, I think there's literally a passage in the the Bible. It is about how there is a lot of symbolism associated with being born under a palm tree.
OK, OK, very cool. So now I have to go back and recall which episode and what was the trivia that Vineet had asked me because that's where I remember the RBI logo coming up. OK amazing. That is a wonderful note. Haha. Pun to end this podcast on, but obviously before we wrap it up, we have to discuss the audience questions. So HK, I come back to you. What do you think is the answer to the audience question? The audience question was when and where was the last telegram
ever sent? The obvious like the logical way to think about is the last user probably be in the US to honour Mars. There's probably like somewhere like you know where near where he lived or near where he was born. Like they would maybe even revive it to do it once. So, OK, let's clarify that. I'm sure there are like special occasion uses and stuff where you could, I guess, send a special telegram. Yeah, but I'm talking about regular postal usage of a telegram. When was the last official
telegram ever used? So US would have fit from a cultural historical context, but then US had technological advancement much earlier than a lot of other countries in the world. That's true. Which were perhaps still relying on these. It's likely in India. Very good. Yes it is. In II is obviously something I also did not expect. But do you want to guess when was it? When was the last telegram I was sent? I mean, I would say it could even be as recent as the nineties, 80s or 90s.
I would not be surprised. More recent than that. More recent than that. More recent than OK, interesting there was there any special occasion that they. No, there was no special occasion as far as I know. I don't think there was any special occasion. OK, 2010. Close enough, 2013. OK. The last telegram ever in the world was sent in India was sent from the city of Nagpur on July 14th, 2013 at 11:55 PM by 1 Kavita Waghmare to her mother.
In it she wrote a poem wherein she prays and saluted her mother's love, saluted the telegram staff for 163 years long service and lastly saluted India and this was sent in 2013. I was very surprised as the recently 2013 somebody used a telegram to communicate way more recent than I would have guessed. OK, that brings us to the end of the questions. But the little spiel.
I would love for you to go ahead and subscribe to comment to reach out to us on IU quizzing.me@gmail.com if you want to share some thoughts, any feedback, any suggestions or even trivia that you would like to hear in future episodes. I have to acknowledge, by the way, that recently we have gotten a lot of e-mail from friends of the show. People have reached out to us once. We need this back. Once you're back to regular programming, we will go back to those listener questions because
those are always a lot of fun. And there's some lovely emails that people have sent as well. Would love to share that with the rest of the listeners. So do be part of that gang and send us some questions because it's always fun for both Anita and me. And go follow us on all our podcast apps, subscribe and rate US. It helps us to spread it. And actually the best way to spread it is to recommend it to a friend, whoever you think
would enjoy trivia. Before I forget, because HK did remind me we do have to do a pop culture recommendation on SO HK, what is your pop culture recommendation? I'm going to rehash my recommendations at least from the last time, because I can't use my questions from the last unsuccessful recording thanks to Apple Airports.
That's fine. So I recommended these two books, both of which were on the shortlist for the International Booker list, one which ended up winning the Booker prize, which is Heart Lamp by Banna Mushtaq, which is a collection of stories about Muslim women experience in Karnataka.
Wonderful book. And the other one, which is think of was written in Danish called on the calculation of volume, which is a wonderfully written time loop story familiar with Groundhog Day or Palm Springs in a book and exploring some very interesting ideas and themes around like what it means to have absolute certainty in your life. Because we something that we always fear is uncertainty, but kind of flips it around and says how scary is certainty and how comforting is uncertainty. Right.
As I said earlier, 99% Invisible, so this is a wonderful episode. They had recently on Marcus Garvey and the Pan African Black Unity Flag. I think that we had an older episode of. But yeah, always worth listening to that podcast. Yeah, I remember you mentioned when you talk about time loop movies, you also mentioned some Tamil film. Yes, called Maanade. So that's a Tamil time loop story, right? Political thriller time loop. Very cool genre we have in the past talked about.
I have recommended time loop films because this is one of my favorite genres of film. I really enjoyed it. Phul Chukma for a Hindi movie that came out is the same genre. I don't think it was received very well. I haven't watched it yet. But yeah, you said that the Tamil 1 is very good, so I will definitely catch that.
And just like you HK, I'm also going to repeat my recommendation from the last unreleased episode, and that is the show Hacks. Hacks is a comedy show and it's about a stand up comic who is kind of winning in importance and popularity. He's an older stand up comic and she's working with a younger comedy writer to make her material more interesting and more relevant again. And it's this dynamic between these two ladies that makes the
show very interesting, fun. It's comedy drama, it's dark comedy. It's some very interesting moments as well. So Hacks is my recommendation. And shout out to the woman who plays the young writer. Character's name is Ava Daniels and the name of the actor is Hannah Einbinder. Lovely performance by Hannah Einbinder. Jean Smart, by the way, plays the older stand up comic, a very talented actor herself, Jean Smart. So those are the pop culture recommendations for this episode.
And that brings us the actual end of the episode. So thank you so much for joining us. Thank you HK for stepping in again. Can't wait to have you back and next time we will reuse your questions and maybe have Vineet answer them. Thanks once again. Put him through that. See you guys next week.